LEED certification boosts cost of going green

Just ask Connie Engel, a partner at Childress Klein, which manages and leases most of Atlanta Galleria, an 86-acre office park in Cobb County with six high-rise buildings: The firm is not seeking certification through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to prove the buildings are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, the article stated.

"We don’t want to pay the cost," Engel said, or pass it on to tenants during this economic climate, but she said that doesn''t mean they don''t believe in conservation.

While proponents of LEED certification say it pays off in the long run in operating efficiencies, Engel voices a concern echoed by others in Atlanta''s real estate community who''ve balked at the hefty price tag of applying — up to $27,500 per building, the article noted.

According to the article, that is the amount the council''s nonmembers pay to apply for certification of buildings larger than half a million square feet.

Members pay less, and smaller buildings are cheaper to certify, but that''s just for the paperwork, the article added.